Call of Duty Online Footage Surfaces

The game, which has been in production for approximately two years, is the product of a strategic partnership between Call of Duty publisher and Chinese investment company Tencent. The firm has been granted the "exclusive license" to operate Call of Duty Online in mainland China.

This is the first time we've seen footage of the free-to-play micro-transaction game, which was confirmed as being in development by Eric Hirshberg - Activision's publishing boss - in a financial call back in February 2011.

“We are very excited about our relationship with Tencent and the opportunities for gaming in China,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “We think China is one of the most exciting places in the world for us to grow our business and to develop innovative new games.

“Tencent is an ideal partner for Activision to bring Call of Duty Onlineto China. Tencent has a terrific track record of customer-focused innovation and deep market knowledge that will be invaluable to Activision as we build great games for China. We have worked closely with Tencent to create a game with broad appeal for the Chinese market. We look forward to laying the foundation for a long-standing relationship with Tencent and to launching a new and unique experience for fans.”

Official logo.

Call of Duty online will feature familiar modes from the popular franchise, as well as adding some new modes of its own specifically for Chinese market.

COD Online is a free-to-play game for the Chinese market that borrows familiar modes from the Call of Duty series, while adding a fresh mode all of its own.

At this point it's unclear as to whether this game will ever seen a Western release.